Big Time MoveIn
by Chanooa
Summary: Rainer moves into a house with four new roommates, and falls for one. James/OC, maybe some more pairings, rated M for future possibilities. Please comment with any suggestions!
1. Chapter 1

*This is James/OC, there's some homoerotic undertones, don't like it, don't read it, blah blah. Please comment, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with this yet…*

As I walked up to the old wooden door, I doubled checked the address I had scrawled down on a piece of paper. The little house looked a less cheery than it had looked on the grainy picture in the corner of the flyer. I saw this flyer on a bulletin board in a coffee shop, advertising a house with a room for rent. It was in a decent part of town, only a short walk from most of the college buildings, and, most important of all, it was cheap. The downside was that, according to the flyer, I'd be sharing the room with four roommates. Four. But I figured that was the trade-off for a cheap, decent place to live.

The flyer said that it was a three-bedroom house with two and a half bathrooms, and all of the necessities. I was very excited to find a place that ended up being cheaper than the dorms at the college. There was no way that I could afford to almost double the cost of tuition; I was already taking out enough loans to keep me in debt until the day that I die. I knocked on the door, hopeful and nervous at the same Rainere.

It felt like I'd been waiting for hours before someone finally came to the door. A boy in his mid-twenties with blonde hair and dark brown eyebrows, wearing a grey t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms looked at me and asked "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, hi. Uhm, I saw this flyer that said that you have a room for rent here, but all of the little tags with the phone number were ripped off, so I figured I'd just come over and see- if there's a better Rainere that I could come over, I'd be happy to…" I stumbled awkwardly before trailing off into an awkward silence.

The boy seemed to think for a minute before sticking out his hand. "I'm Kendall," he said.

"Oh, I'm Rainer," I said with some relief.

"Do you want to see the place? It's kinda dirty right now, but if that's okay with you…"Kendall said.

"Sure! Yes, that'd be great," I said, a bit too enthusiastically.

He showed me around the little yellow house. All of the floors were wood, except for the kitchen and bathroom, which had tiles. It had a big living room with a large TV, a couch, a little table, and some chairs, none of which seemed to match. The kitchen was similar, and the half bathroom. He showed me up a creaky set of steps to the upstairs, which had a sunny little open room on the left with a little green loveseat and an almost empty bookcase. A long hallway ran from the stairs, and past the sunny library, beyond which were two doors on the left, a door on the right, and a door at the end of the hall. "There are two bedrooms on the left, a bathroom at the end, and the master bedroom on the right, which has a connected bathroom," Kendall explained. "We still haven't quite worked out which room is for rent."

We walked back downstairs, and Kendall flopped down on the sofa before motioning for me to join him. "So, what do you think?" he asked.

"It's great! I'm surprised it's so cheap," I said, probably hurting any chance I had of lowering the price.

"Well, four roommates is a big consideration. I mean, that takes up a lot of space," Kendall said.

"I definitely wouldn't mind. I grew up with a brother, and there were always lots of people in and out of our house, so I'm used to sharing space," I said, further damaging my chances of getting a better price. I just couldn't stop myself from talking, because I was so excited.

Kendall went on to explain some of the technicalities about food, electric, water, and who pays for what. I got a little overwhelmed with all of the things I hadn't considered about renting a house. "So, do you have any questions?" Kendall asked, stretching his arms behind his head. I couldn't help but take notice of his flexed muscles, and the few little hairs sticking out from his sleeves. I tried to focus.

"Uhm, can you tell me anything about the other roommates?" I asked, focusing on his face.

"Yeah, they all go to the college as well. It's kind of nice having the college integrated as part of the city, 'cause then you can live in the city for cheaper. They're all guys, too," Kendall said.

"Uhm, okay…"I said, unsure of what to do. I suddenly felt like I had no idea what I was doing, and realized how big of a step I had just taken.

"So, how do you feel? Do you want some Rainere, or…" Kendall asked.

"I…I think that I could see myself here," I said, hopefully.

"Great!" Kendall said. "So, you okay with the price and everything?"

"I guess," I said. "I work at one of the stores in the city, and I usually make enough to cover rent and food and everything, and I've got a little saved up in case I can't make ends meet."

"Alright! So can you stay for just a little bit, and wait for the others to get back so we can decide which room you'll be renting?" Kendall asked, seeming a bit cheerier.

"Uhm, yeah," I said, glancing at my watch. I did some mental calculations and figured that I'd have to take a later bus to the suburbs.

We waited and talked together for a few minutes. Kendall said that the other two roommates should be back in just a few minutes, because their classes would have just let out. He called up the stairs for the one roommate that was already in the house. Another boy in his mid-twenties came bounding down the stairs. He was much shorter than Kendall, who was about half a head taller than me. This boy was even shorter than me, with short brown hair and a Hispanic look about him. He had excited brown eyes and seemed to be full of energy.

"Carlos, this is Rainer. Rainer, this is Carlos," Kendall said, gesturing appropriately.

"Hi!" I said, smiling brightly and giving a little wave.

"Oh, hey," Carlos said, also smiling.

"Rainer is gonna be the new renter," Kendall said.

"Good, we almost couldn't pay next month's rent!" Carlos said.

Kendall threw a pillow at him. "Shut up!" he said, obviously trying to keep his position of power.

Carlos dodged the pillow and went into the kitchen. "Does anyone want anything while I'm up?" he asked politely.

"Nah," Kendall yelled back.

"Uhm, no thanks," I said, trying to sound polite.

The three of us sat around talking for a little while before someone else walked in through the door. He was also in his mid-thirties, with spiky dark hair and pale skin. He had dark eyes and looked tired. He noticed me and waved. "Hey, I'm Logan."

"I'm Rainer," I said, trying to seem polite yet casual.

"Oh, Logan, this is Rainer. He's gonna be renting a room," Kendall said, twisting to look at Logan without moving too much.

"Good, we were almost going to be evicted," Logan said nonchalantly as he set down his backpack and flopped down into a chair.

Kendall shot him a look. Apparently I could have still asked for a lower price, but I didn't dare. However, it was nice to know that they wouldn't throw me out, and that they needed me as much as I needed them. We all continued to talk and I got to know each of the guys better. Kendall seemed somewhat lazy, and very relaxed and chill. Still, it seemed like he could be easily motivated to get into a project. Logan seemed smart and carried himself with a certain uptight quality. Carlos appeared to be more active and energetic; the type that gets into trouble and would end up on youtube. I felt kind of awkward, because I'd never lived away from home before, and I felt kind of attracted to each of these guys. I wasn't sure if they'd be okay with a gay roommate, but I figured that it was pretty obvious by now that I was gay. I definitely took no measures to hide my flamboyancy. I figured I could keep myself under control around them, and hopefully get to see them more as family, thereby no longer feeling attracted. Finally, after a few more minutes, the final renter walked through the door.

The minute he walked in I could feel my face turn bright red and my head got light. He was gorgeous. He had long, light brown hair which was perfectly arranged on top of his perfect head. His face was angelic, with perfect, masculine features that had a gentle and perfect quality to them. He was quite tall, perfectly dressed, and had a big, perfect frame with bulging, tanned muscles. He was…perfect.

I felt stupid for thinking that. I didn't even know him, how the hell can I tell that he's perfect? For all I know, he could be a serial killer, just waiting for me to look away so he could kill me and stuff my body into the fridge.

I kept telling myself that he was a deranged killer as I watched him take off his jacket and put down his backpack. He looked around and noticed me sitting in his living room. I blushed even deeper, feeling very lightheaded as I felt his eyes on me. I had to remind myself how stupid it is to feel like this about a total stranger. Still, I looked away.

"Oh, this is Rainer," Kendall said. "He's our new roommate."

"Hi Rainer," this angel said to me. His voice was soft, yet approachably sweet, like seraphim. "I'm James."

I looked up to where he was sitting. I felt embarrassed while looking at his face. I reminded myself once again how ridiculous it was to feel so strongly about someone I've never met before. Still, I could feel all of the blood in my body rushing to my face. "I-I'm Rainer."

James laughed. "So I heard."

If it were possible, I would have blushed even more. I diverted my gaze, trying to do so without making it obvious. I realized then that I must look pretty ridiculous. I tried to compose myself. I took a deep breath to clear my head. I inhaled the aroma of James. It was almost sweet, with a masculine edge to it. It made me even dizzier.

"So, we have to work out the living situation," Kendall said. "Only one person can have their own room now. At the moment, James and Logan have their own rooms, and Carlos and I share the master room," Kendall clarified for me.

"So, which one of you is gonna take a roommate?" Carlos asked, eyeing Logan and James. My shoulder hunched and I got self-conscious as I realized that I was an imposition. I had to remind myself that they also needed the money.

I glanced up and saw that James seemed to have noticed how I was feeling. "I'll take him," he volunteered cheerily. I could feel my heartbeat quicken at the thought of living with him. In the same room as him. Sharing a bathroom. And a bedroom. With him.

Everyone looked at Logan. "Well, I don't know if I could fit another person in my room," he said. "I've got all of my books and my stuff for my dissertation."

"Alright, it's settled," Kendall said, sitting up. "Rainer will move into James' room."

Everyone seemed to break off then, going to do their own thing. James stood up and leaned over me. "Do you wanna come see where you'll be staying?" he asked, obviously reading my lack of confidence.

"Uhm, sure" I said, feeling like I wanted to cry. For a brief second as I followed him up the stairs, I felt as if I wanted to leave. Like I could just turn around and run, and become a funny story for the four of them to tell. I felt like I didn't want to deal with it. Or like I couldn't. But I figured I'd see where it went. In the back of my mind, something was hoping for a dramatic love story. I shoved that thought away and tried to focus on the more present goal of getting everyone to like me.

"So, this is my-er, our room," James said. He opened the second door on the left of the hallway to reveal a quaint little room with a semi-lofted bed, a desk, and a little dresser. He had minimal decorations. "Just give me a second." He opened the closet to reveal a huge line of clothes and shoes and accessories. He pulled a hamper out from it and began throwing clothes into it, and organizing everything that seemed out of place. He then rearranged the furniture so that it only took up half of the room. "There, do you think all of your stuff will fit into this area? There's another closet over there. I'll do some more arranging to empty it out for you.

"Okay, thank you very much. I really appreciate it," I said. I had a bad tendency to over exaggerate my gratitude, especially when I was nervous.

"So when do you think you'll be moving in?" James asked.

"Uh, Kendall said that I could move in as early as possible, so probably tomorrow," I said.

"Sweet," James said casually.

We stood around a little bit before I made my excuses and let myself out, telling Kendall when I'd be back the next day to move in. I left the house and made my way to the bus stop with my head full of hopes and awkward dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, after I finally finished moving everything in and unpacking, I laid down on my bed. I was happy to find that it didn't take up much of the room, and what little furniture I had fit in perfectly. My clothes hardly took up half of the closet, and the only thing I had that James didn't was decorations. I made sure to keep them minimal, and tried to go with a theme instead of the wacky, eclectic explosion of color I was used to. I just couldn't live in a space without a few personal touches, though.

James was gone as I moved in, but there wasn't much that I needed to ask him about, and Kendall and Logan were more than helpful. Kendall even let me keep my books in the empty bookcase that occupied to small, sunny parlor next to the hallway. I could see that becoming a favorite reading spot of mine, especially since nobody else seemed to ever use it.

I left shortly after unpacking to go to class. I felt weird, sitting and scribbling notes down as usual, despite the fact that the last 24 hours had radically changed my entire life. After my procession of three classes was done, I decided to take a little walk in the area around my new house, in order to familiarize myself with the location. I already knew the city pretty well, but I'd never particularly taken notice of this little area. I made mental notes to ask about a few of the restaurants and check out a few of the shops. The sun was starting to get closer and closer to the horizon, so I decided to head home before it got dark.

Home. It was kind of nice to think of my own home, away from family. I liked the idea of independence, even if it was with four roommates. I made my way back to the little yellow house and went up to my room. I dropped all of my school stuff and took some pajamas and a towel out of my barren closet. I went into the bathroom down the hall and took out all of my toiletries from under the sink. It started to sink in that I was living in my own house (shared with four other people, but whatever), taking my first shower. These little moments where I really realized the change in my life were sort of disorienting.

I undressed and stepped into the old shower. The water pressure wasn't exactly great, but the house, like many of those in this city, was pretty old. I started to think about my roommates. They all seemed surprisingly nice, but I still couldn't tell if it was just because they were trying to create a pleasant atmosphere in the house, or if they were genuinely likeable. I figured that it could be worse than trying to make a nice living situation, so that alone said a lot about their personalities.

I hadn't talked much to Logan, and I'd been much too nervous to talk to James, but Carlos and Kendall were really cool. Kendall was sort of goofy, but I really think he has a heart of gold. He seems like the type of person that just wants to do the right thing. Carlos was really funny and hyperactive, and seemed to like jokes and pranks. I'd gotten to be fast friends with them over the past…day. It hit me just then that only yesterday I'd been living at home. I thought that I should make an effort to befriend Logan. It'd be nice to be in a house full of friends.

That is, if I could ever work up the courage to actually look James in the eyes. Suddenly, I heard a loud knocking at the bathroom door. "Occupied," I yelled, though I was sure whoever it was would be able to hear the shower. I then heard someone fiddling with the lock, and the door opened. I barely had enough Rainere to cup myself before Carlos threw open the shower curtain. He looked me up and down for a second.

I opened my mouth to say something, but he looked at my face and yelled "Fire!" My eyes widened and I looked around panicked. "Go, run, we have to get out of the house!" Carlos yelled, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me, dripping, out of the shower. I ran down the hallway, and sprinted down the stairs, Carlos at my heels. I could smell smoke and hear the one functioning smoke detector going off in the living room. Kendall was downstairs in the kitchen, and Carlos and I ran toward the door. Carlos flung it open and I started to run out, but rammed into someone who was entering.

I looked up from the floor to see James standing over me, looking very confused. He had a big wet, soapy spot on him from where we collided. James' eyes flickered over me as the fire alarm stopped beeping. I quickly realized the situation and covered myself. I looked over to Carlos, who was almost rolling on the floor because he was laughing so hard. Kendall, too, was giggling in the kitchen. I looked over to the oven, which was smoking with some burnt food in it. I couldn't help looking back up at James, who seemed to have realized the situation.

My face burned so hot that I was surprised all of the water on my body didn't turn to steam. James looked empathetically down at me, and offered me a hand to help me up. I stood up on my own and run up the stairs. I could feel his eyes on my exposed body the whole way up. I ran into our bedroom, and locked the door behind me. I was red from head to toe, and was burning with embarrassment.

I tried to break down the situation. That usually made me feel better. Okay, so what was so bad? Carlos just played a little joke. And I totally followed it, so what? And I ran smack into James, completely naked. And wet. And he saw me run into him, completely naked and wet. My pulse raced again as I got even more red.

Okay, but he seemed understanding. That's good, right? He seemed to get the situation and feel bad for me. When he saw me lying on the floor, completely naked and wet. Oh jeez, this really isn't working.

I decided to just take a few deep breaths, do a little meditation-like zoning out for a few minutes, then dry off, and put on some clothes. I felt better as I went to the door and unlocked it, about to turn the knob. Then I turned around and jumped into my bed, under the covers.

Do I really need to face this? I could just pretend it never happened. I could move, and change my name. Wait, what was I getting so worked up about? It was just my body, I mean, everyone has one. I'm nothing James hasn't seen before. And I look damn good naked! He was lucky to see that. Hell, I should charge him!

Okay, let's not push it. I decided to end all of this crazy inner-dialogue and go downstairs for some dinner. I nervously crept down the hallway and descended the stairs, hoping nobody would particularly notice me.

As I got down to the living room, I saw all four of my roommates sitting around, looking at each other as if I had interrupted a serious conversation. They all smiled weakly, that sort of 'hey-kiddo-sorry-about-what-we-all-know-happened' smile. I noticed Carlos looked like he was getting a black eye. I awkwardly made my way to the kitchen, aware of all of their eyes on me. I made a Nutella sandwich and went into the living room. Before I could get to the stairs, Carlos said "Hey, Rainer."

I looked at him and tried my best not to look like anything was particularly wrong. "Yeah?"

"I, uh, I'm sorry," Carlos said. "I guess…I mean, it's your first day here, and we don't-er, well, I shouldn't have, you know. It was a shitty thing to do."

I decided it was best to play it cool. "Oh, yeah, it's no big deal. It was just a prank."

"Really?" Carlos said. "'Cause, I mean, you were in your room for, like, a long Rainere, and James totally saw-"

Carlos was cut short by James, who was sitting in a chair next to him, punching in the arm. It looked painful, and I wish I could say that I wasn't glad. "It's really no big deal," I said. I tried to laugh, but it just kind of came out forced. I instantly wished I hadn't.

"So," Kendall said, indicating that we were moving on. Everyone seemed to relax a little bit. "Do you guys wanna go somewhere for dinner? You know, as a sort of welcome?"

"Yeah," said Logan. "I haven't had any decent food in a long Rainere."

"Where do you guys think we should go?" Kendall asked.

After a few minutes of debate, which I stayed out of, they decided on a restaurant, and we went off for our first meal together. The awkwardness seemed to die down as we ate, and conversation flowed. I felt really self conscious eating right next to James, so I ordered something light and ate sparingly. Carlos, feeling guilty, insisted on paying for me. I decided to let him and not cause a scene. We all left and walked back to our little yellow house. I was starting feel like less of an outsider and more like a part of their group. Once we got inside, everyone said their goodnights and took shifts in the bathrooms. Finally, James and I were both lying down in our beds for our first night together.

"Hey, Rainer?" James said only a few minutes after we'd both gotten into bed. His voice came from above me, because his bed was quite a bit higher than mine.

"Yeah?" I asked nervously. I still wasn't comfortable around him, especially after today.

"Are you really okay?" he asked.

"I really am," I answered. "But thanks." I was glad he couldn't see how deeply I was blushing.

A few minutes passed before I finally worked up the courage to ask, "Hey James, what happened to Carlos' eye?"

James paused before saying, "I kind of punched him."

I almost wanted to ask why, just to hear him say it, but I resisted.


	3. Chapter 3

*So, the homoerotic undertones are starting to turn to overtones. I'm still not sure where I'm going, but I'm enjoying the ride. Don't read it if you don't like it, blah blah blah, and please feel free to review with ideas, because I need 'em!*

I woke up, turned off my alarm clock, and looked over to see James' crotch in my face.

I will admit that I have woken up to much worse things, but I was still quite surprised all the same. He was wearing green boxer-briefs and a white undershirt as he reached over my bed to the shelf above it. He was trying to get something off of the shelf, and leaning over my head to do so. I guiltily enjoyed the sight a bit longer, until James found what he was looking for, and backed up from my bed.

I couldn't tell if he noticed the awkward position we were in, but he did notice that I was awake. "Hey, good morning," he said.

I grumbled a greeting, a bit dismayed that I'd be sharing my room with a morning person. I gathered up everything that I'd need for the day, savored one last look at James' big, tanned muscles in his little, tight outfit, and went into the bathroom. I was a bit surprised and excited that James slept in such a state of undress. I personally slept in sweatpants and a hoodie. I couldn't help wishing that James was upset that I didn't wear less to bed. I reminded myself that there was no way he could find me attractive, and set about getting ready for the day.

As I went through my day, I thought about James, and how lucky I was to get to be roommates with him. I felt weird at the same Rainere, like I shouldn't be looking at him "that way." Like I should be looking at him more as a person. The more I thought about him, the more I liked him. He was really nice, and sweet. He seemed to actually care about how other people feel, and he was really cool, judging from the snooping I did through his half of the room.

I realized when I got home that what I was thinking was a very dangerous road to go down, especially with a roommate. I decided to just think of him as a random stranger. A very hot random stranger. A very nice, cool, hot random stranger.

The next few days passed by uneventfully, but my feelings toward James grew, despite my best efforts to quell them. I couldn't help it. The more we talked the more I felt a connection. I couldn't tell if he did too, but I seriously doubted it. Before I knew it, I had been living in the little yellow house for more than two weeks! Everything had just become second nature.

Then, one day when neither of us had class, James asked if I wanted to go out to lunch.

"Uh, sure, but I'm not sure when anyone else is gonna be home," I replied.

"Well, I actually kind of meant just the two of us," James replied.

"Oh," I said, trying to sound cool and casual. "Okay, sure."

We decided on where to go, and had a pleasant Rainere walking and talking together. I also enjoyed talking to him during the meal, though I still felt weird eating in front of him, so I ordered light and ate little. After we were done, James suggested that we take a walk around the shopping area of the city. I agreed, and we left. We window shopped and talked even more, and then finally ended up back at the little yellow house.

"Well, this was a lot of fun," James said.

"Yeah," I said, feeling the steady blush I'd kept through the entire outing deepen.

"So, this is me," James joked as he unlocked and opened the door. He turned around to face me and tripped off of the little stoop in front of the door. I caught him and his face ended up on mine, his lips hot against my cold cheek. I awkwardly pushed him back up and he apologized, and suggested that we do something later that night before scurrying upstairs.

I went into the living room and set up the home workout DVD that I used to stay in shape. It was cheesy, and I always felt awkward when someone would come in while I was working out, but nobody ever made too many jokes about it. I was almost done when James came back downstairs. He sat on the couch and watched me as I finished my workout. I felt really weird about it, but decided not to say anything.

When I was done, I flopped down on the couch, sweaty and tired. James looked over at me and I tried not to look back at him, unsure of what he was trying to do. I opened my mouth to tell him that he could watch whatever he wanted, but he stood up, moved in front of me, and leaned over to look me in the face. I sat up and tried to wipe some of the sweat from my face, unsure what to say.

James seemed to think for a minute before leaning in and kissing me. I was stunned. I just sort of kissed him back. I felt tears welling in my eyes, though I had absolutely no idea why. Just as suddenly, he got up and walked away, seeming satisfied. "Oh, and we're going to a club tonight, in a few hours," James called casually down the stairs.

I sat on the couch, stunned for a few minutes. My whole body was tingling, and I was just starting to cool down. Every muscle was tensed as I tried to process what had just happened. When I finally came to terms with it, my body relaxed. I just kissed James. No, James just kissed me. _He_ kissed _me_. Wow, not bad, Rainer. Not bad at all. Holy crap. We kissed. James and I kissed! There was no denying it. I may really start to enjoy living here.


	4. Chapter 4

*If you don't like it, don't read it, blah blah man on man, homosexuality blah. Anywho, I still haven't earned that M rating, but I promise that I might soon!*

After a few hours, James told me to get ready, because we'd be leaving soon. He said it quickly as he was taking out the trash, so I didn't get a chance to say anything to him. In fact, I hadn't been able to say anything to him since he kissed me.

I climbed the stairs and got ready in our shared room. When I got downstairs, everyone was in the living room, watching TV. James was the only one dressed to go out.

"Are you ready?" James asked, standing.

"Uh, yeah," I said, looking at the rest of the roommates.

"Alright, let's go!" James said enthusiastically. He was already opening the front door, so I assumed nobody else was coming with us tonight, either.

"So, where are we going?" I asked nervously as we started to walk down the street together. James seemed to have an idea of the direction he wanted to take.

"A club I heard about," James said, but I could tell there was something more to it.

"So, uh, we should talk about…" I said, unsure of how to finish.

"Oh, you mean…on the couch?" he asked.

"Yeah, I, uh…why?" was all I could manage to say.

"Well, I wasn't sure if when we went out for lunch, if we were just two friends going to lunch, or, you know, 'going out' together," James said.

"What?" I asked, the reason behind his spontaneous kiss even less clear.

"Well, I wasn't sure if you we went on a date or not, so I figured that if you kissed me back, you liked me, and we therefore had gone on a date," James said, as if it made perfect sense.

"We…we went on a date?" I asked.

"I-I'm sorry. I mean, I thought-Aren't we…I mean, right now we're not…."James stammered. It was cute to see him flustered.

"Oh! Oh. Oooh. So. _This_ is a date?" I asked.

James stopped walking. "I'm sorry, I thought that we were-I guess I misread some signals, or…"

"Well," I said, gaining a very brief sense of confidence from knowing that James was into me. "It could be. I mean, if we both want it to." It was hard to keep the giddiness out of my voice.

James seemed to perk up. "Definitely!" James chirped, before regaining his usual cool, mysterious aura. "I mean, you know, if you want to."

It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one excited by tonight's prospects. "Well, I guess, if you really want to, I could, you know, manage," I said.

"Alright," James said coolly. "So, we're dating."

"Yup," I said, mockingly coolly. "Where are we going anyway?"

"I already told you, we're going to club," James said with a little devilish smile.

We continued to walk and chat for a while. I wasn't too familiar with the part of the city that we were walking through. It was getting to be a trendy part, but still seemed a little dangerous. I was a bit paranoid, walking through a strange part of the city in the dark, but James made me feel safe.

We stopped in front of a little club in a slightly safer area, with blacked out windows and loud music coming from within. There were only a few people standing outside of the door, so we got past the bouncer and through to the club pretty quickly.

I didn't immediately notice anything remarkable about this club. It was dark and colorful flashes of strobe lights, a few little tables with beat up benches, a big circular bar in the middle, and a dance floor on one side. It was somewhat crowded, and kind of difficult to see. James took my hand and led me to the dance floor. There was a poppy song with a pounding bass on, and James started dancing like an expert. I sort of awkwardly wriggled and twitched, trying to look half as good as James was. He looked so beautiful, moving to the beat of the song, it felt like I couldn't see anyone else in the club.

And then I did notice the other people in the club. They were mostly dressed colorfully and eccentrically. I noticed several people making out. I also noticed that they were making out with people of the same gender. I figured that this was the part of our date that James was keeping a secret. He wasn't just taking me to a club; he was taking me to a gay club.

I was almost a little disappointed. Did he really think that I would be shocked by a gay club? I mean, I hadn't really ever been to club before, but this was hardly something subversive or even too interesting. And, because we are a _gay_ couple, it goes to reason that we would go to a _gay_ club. I decided that I didn't care, I was just happy to be there with James.

We continued to dance our way through a few songs, and I started to get into it, moving more easily with James' skilled moves. The floor was really crowded, and we were continually bumping into other people, but that just sort of added to the effect. After one song ended, a voice came booming out from over the speakers. I could hardly understand what the DJ was saying, but the message was clear as everyone moved off of the dance floor, and began to surround it like a stage. James and I were right at the edge of the dance floor. I looked around, uncertain of what would be taking place for everyone to watch. The DJ's voice boomed through the loud speakers again, but I still couldn't make any sense of the blurred words. Everyone began cheering, and Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night" started to play. Everyone seemed concentrated on something on the dance floor, but I couldn't figure out who they were staring at. I looked at James, and he smiled that same devilish grin and nodded to the dance floor. I followed his gaze, and then I saw her.

She was about six feet tall, wearing six inch heels, a black lace body suit that was covered in glitter, a disco-ball bra on top, and she had huge blonde hair, and more makeup on than I have ever seen on a single person. In short, she was a drag queen. James had taken me to see a drag queen perform. The music started to pick up, and she began dancing along with her lip syncing. She twirled her way around the ring of onlookers, picking up tips from eager hands. James handed me a dollar bill, and I reached out as she danced past. She stopped just before she got near us, and began slowly gathering the money in her hands, dramatically enunciating the pop lyrics. When she got to me, I smiled, and she took the dollar, and leaned over to give me a big, wet kiss on the cheek. I could feel a large lipstick stain, and I smiled even brighter. James turned to me and laughed.

The rest of the night was filled with equally wonderful performers. Luckily, James had brought quite a few dollar bills, so we were able to tip appropriately. After the show was done, everyone flooded the dance floor, and several of the drag queens dotted the area, dancing with friends and dealing out wit. We danced for a little longer, but James and I got really tired, so we decided to leave after a few songs.

As we stepped out of the bar, we saw the drag queen that performed "Marry the Night" smoking a cigarette with a small entourage just outside of the exit. I stopped James and tentatively approached her.

"Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say that you were amazing," I said, knowing how lame I sounded.

The drag queen smiled and said "Well, if you really want to show your appreciation, you and your friend meet me backstage in ten minutes with a wad of cash and a bullwhip." She winked, though her words were somewhat slurred, because she was obviously more than a bit tipsy by now.


	5. Chapter 5

*So, I'm considering writing a separate story for any dirty bits, and keeping this one clean. Or something. I don't know. I'm still not one hundred percent sure where this is going, so please please review! And if you don't like it, don't read it and whatever*

When James and I finally got home, we both crawled up to our room and collapsed onto his bed. We were both too tired to be bothered with doing anything but falling asleep. That night, I dreamt of birds. They were all flying together in a flock, and changing colors as they flitted through the sunlight. They flew expertly around in the sky, passing around trees and obstacles. They seemed to have a collective goal. Suddenly, they headed toward a giant red tree. One by one, they flew head first into this tree, cracking their little necks. They seemed determined to fling themselves onto this tree, and they seemed somehow relieved after they reached it.

I woke up in the light, my body sore and muscles aching. I realized that I was still wearing my shoes and jacket from last night. Somehow, in my sleep, I'd managed to kick off one shoe and my jeans. I smiled at the memories of last night. I looked over and realized that I was still in James' bed. He'd gotten half of his jacket off in his sleep, as well as kicking off his pants, shoes, and socks. His shirt was pushed up over his bellybutton, revealing his tight abs and perfect little V leading down to a very tight pair of teal briefs. I couldn't help thinking that this underwear was unbelievably hot. I could see a vague outline of his package through the material. I couldn't resist staring at the bulge. The shape was pretty undefined, but it was still pretty big. James moaned and sat up, and I instantly started blushing and looked away.

"Hey," he said, giving me a peck on my red cheek.

"Morning," I said, trying to hide how awkward I was feeling.

"Oy, I'm so sore all over," he said twisting and stretching.

"Yeah, me too," I said.

James seemed to pick up on how I was feeling, and looked around, confused. He then noticed his tanned, hairy legs were exposed, and his pelvis was rather thinly covered. He tried to grab the blanket from underneath us to cover himself, but he couldn't seem to manage to get it out. He settled on covering his bulge with his hands.

"I had a lot of fun last night," I said, smiling at him.

"Me too," James said.

"And, I really like… you know, dating you or whatever," I said, still uncomfortable with the drastic change in my love life.

"I like dating you or whatever too," James said, laughing.

"I've never… I mean, you're pretty much, like, my first boyfriend or whatever," I said, cursing my incessant use of the word 'whatever.'

James' demeanor changed a little. He seemed more distant, and unfocused. "Oh, really? Well I- I'm glad I could be your first…"

"I mean, you know, if you're my boyfriend, or whatever," I said. James seemed to flinch a little bit at the word boyfriend. "I'm not sure how this is supposed to go. I mean, tell me if I'm doing something wrong."

James seemed even more distraught. "No, you're not doing anything wrong," he said quickly.

"Is something…wrong?" I asked.

"No, I just have to...pee," James said, jumping off of the bed. I slid down after him, and only barely caught a glimpse of the reason why he was acting so weird. His shirt was short enough that it hung just a few inches above the waistband of his briefs. He was turning quickly, so I could only barely see it, but I definitely saw a huge tent in James' briefs. I stifled a giggle as I watched his cute bubble butt strut out of the room and toward the bathroom. I think I gave James morning wood.

I was feeling a little confident as I got ready for the day. I cast a knowing look toward James as he walked back in, and he blushed a little. I liked seeing James let down the wall of perfection that he tried so hard to maintain. When I got downstairs, Logan and Kendall were already in the living room. It looked as if I were interrupting a serious conversation. I snuck into the kitchen, and pretended to go out of the kitchen door. I know it's really rude, but I was feeling way too nosy to care. I crept up to the archway between the living room and the kitchen.

"Logan, I don't want to go over this again," Kendall whispered, agonized.

"I just…. I don't feel like I have closure," Logan said, pained.

"God, do you always have to analyze everything?" Kendall moaned. "I mean, you'll live if we have unresolved issues, right?"

"I-I feel like we have more than just unresolved issues," Logan said. "I feel like we have more than unresolved issues. I don't want this to be the end."

I heard James start to descend the stairs, and Kendall and Logan's conversation ceased. I sighed and went about getting some breakfast. I sat down in the living room next to James. Logan was gone and Kendall was looking like he was pushing himself to be pleasant. "Oh! So, did you guys have fun last night?" Kendall asked, looking genuinely interested, and excited to have a distraction.

"Yeah!" James said. "I mean, I did."

"I definitely did," I said, surprised that Kendall was aware of our date.

"I'm glad. It's about time, since you moved in, James has been-" Kendall said, interrupted by James throwing a magazine from the table at him.

"What?" I asked, a little excited to hear the answer.

"Nothing," James said. "Anyway, we had fun."

"What were you going to say?" I asked Kendall.

"Wait!" James yelled dramatically. We looked at him. "Did you hear that?"

We sat, silent and still for a few moment, and then we both heard it. There was a beep echoing from the upstairs hall.

"So what?" Kendall said. "It was just the smoke alarm, it means the battery is dead."

"Exactly," James said. "Remember last time nobody changed it? Nobody slept for, like, a week."

"Oh yeah," Kendall said. "So, you wanna change it?"

"Yeah, Rainer, can you help me?" James said.

"Okay," I replied. "And then you're going to tell me what you were going to say," I said to Kendall.

We got the ladder from the side of the house and carried it upstairs. We set it up and I held it while James reached up to the smoke detector. Before he could touch it, we both froze: a beep emanated from down the hall. We both looked at each other and laughed, then moved the ladder down the hall to the other smoke detector. I held it still as James climbed up, and I handed him the package of batteries. As he opened the package, we heard the beep coming from somewhere else. We looked around, and decided that it was coming from the bathroom. We folded up the ladder and leaned it on the wall, and I got the stepladder from the closet downstairs, in order to accommodate the much lower ceiling of the bathroom. The hallway was tall and carried echos, but the ceilings of the rooms coming off of this hallway were much lower.

We went into the bathroom, and James finally replaced the battery. We folded up the stepladder, and opened the door. And heard a beep. I groaned as we decided on a new room that could need attention. We decided on our room, and set up the step ladder. As James was changing the battery, we heard another beep, clearly not from the smoke detector in our room. We went into Logan's room, and waited for the beep. I looked around his room. It was full of papers and models and books. He appeared to have left. It was messy, and had minimal furniture. We heard the beep coming from outside of the room. We angrily trudged over to Carlos and Kendall's room. Carlos was taking a shower in the bathroom, so we assumed it had to be the one in the bathroom. Their room was painted a dark maroon color, and had dark mahogany furniture. It was surprisingly stylish and well-kept; considering Carlos and Kendall, I wouldn't have thought either of them was particularly organized.

James changed the battery, and the beeping stopped. I perused their room, feeling in a nosy mood. There was a small set up of scented candles on one table. I looked at James and smiled. I told him not to take down the stepladder. I picked up the lighter, and flicked it until a flame sparked to life. I climbed the little ladder, and held the flame up to the smoke detector. As it went off, I quickly folded up the ladder, grabbed James by the hand, and ran downstairs.

I waited until Carlos came running down the stairs, wet and covered in soap, with just a towel around his waist. I waited by the front door, and yelled "Holy crap, there's a fire!" I opened the front door and Carlos took two steps out before turning around and glaring at me.

"Oh, very nice," he said. "Ha. Ha."

James and I leaned on each other as we gasped for breath, laughing. Carlos mumbled angrily as he plodded up the stairs to resume his shower.


End file.
